Trash Picked Up But Issues Remain At Condominiums

NEW BRITAIN — The small white trash bags cluttering two trash bins in the Glen Pines condominiums were cleaned up Thursday.

After waiting more than a month, MidConn Bank, which holds the mortgages for the condo owners, paid off a debt to Connecticut Waste Processing of Plainville and restored the garbage pickup service.

Resident Dorothy Estelle, who triggered media attention this week after trying to get help from several city officials, said she was relieved to see the mess cleaned up. But she still wants other maintenance problems addressed and an answer to the larger question of who owns the property.

Neither the bank nor the developer is eager to claim ownership of the 30-unit condominium behind Glen Street. The project has faced financial problems since it was built in the late 1980s. About eight units remain unfinished.

Usually, condominium owners handle their own maintenance through a common fee. But the Glen Street residents only ``partially own'' their property. For three years, the maintenance has been handled by the developer, Matt Mattera of Berlin.

But in the past six months, the bank ended its relationship with Mattera, and maintenance slipped. Residents have asked the bank for assistance, but bank officials have referred them to the developer.

Thursday, Mattera's lawyer, Jacob Weiselman of Simsbury, said he filed a complaint in Hartford Superior Court in April against MidConn Bank. The complaint cites the bank as the primary property owner.

``Our position is that Matt got involved to do the bank a favor,'' said Weiselman. Mattera took a bad debt off the bank's hands, Weiselman said. But Mattera was essentially acting as a manager for the bank.

Estelle and other residents want to take matters into their own hands. Next week, they are planning to meet and form a condominium association.

``We're just not going to take it anymore,'' Estelle said. ``Cleaning up the garbage will not make us hush, hush.''